


Why Won't My Friends Let Me Fix This?

by RakshaTheDemon



Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 19:46:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10578246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RakshaTheDemon/pseuds/RakshaTheDemon
Summary: Rebecca has second thoughts about the things she said to her father, and the squad tries to stop her from doing something she'll regret. Set the morning after the season 2 finale.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Kalikoke for encouraging me, and also for getting me sucked into this show to begin with.

“Oh god what have I done. What have I done. Please tell me I didn’t actually--oh my god.” Visions from yesterday swam through Rebecca’s head. The beautiful wedding venue. Father Brah bringing the news about Josh. Running to the cliff. Her father  _ leaving _ .

_ Fucking hell Rebecca what did you do? _

“Hey hey hey, calm down Cookie.” Paula was sitting on the edge of the bed in an instant. “You did  not do anything wrong, okay?”

“I told him I never want to see him again. What if he  _ listens _ to me?”

“Then you will have gotten your useless, good-for-nothing,  _ garbage father _ out of your life forever.” Paula made it sound like it was the best thing that could have happened, instead of an unmitigated disaster.

This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Things were supposed to be  _ fixed  _ between them now. She invited him to the wedding and he  _ came _ . Sure it took some prompting and a private plane but he still showed up. And he wanted reconnect! They were going to put the past behind them and start fresh; they were supposed to hang out together and maybe get coffee or ice cream and just chat for hours and--

“Rebecca, listen to yourself.” Wait, had she been saying that stuff out loud? “Your father didn’t show up at the wedding because he honestly wanted to reconnect with you. He wanted your  _ money _ .”

“You don’t know that! I mean sure, he  _ asked _ for money, but it’s not like I can’t afford it. And family’s about supporting each other, right?”

“And when the hell has he ever supported you?”

Rebecca groaned, pulling the covers up over her face to block out stupid Paula’s stupid words. But it was too late. Already she was remembering a lifetime of moments her father had missed out on. Every competition, every award, birthdays, graduation, even her stupid  _ bat mitzvah _ . 

But he  _ had _ come to the wedding, right? Even if it was to ask for money, that was still  _ something _ , wasn’t it? And it’s not like he needed to fly all the way to California to ask for money. He could have just called and asked her to mail a check but he didn’t, he  _ showed up _ . Which meant that Paula was wrong, and he did love her, and this could all be salvaged if she just apologized for being crazy yesterday.

She tore the covers off and reached to grab her phone off the nightstand, only it wasn’t there. Did it fall? She hauled herself out of bed, maneuvering around Paula to do so, and began not-at-all-frantically searching the floor around the nightstand, and then under the bed, and then around the dresser. 

“Where the fuck is my phone?”

“Oh no you don’t,” Paula said. “We knew you’d be like this, so Heather hid your phone. We’re not letting you make a texting decision you’ll regret.”

“Text who? What? No.” Rebecca was already leaving the room in search of Heather. “I just need my phone in case, like, work calls or something.”

“It’s the weekend.”

“...Right. But also, my mom? I mean, she has to be worried sick after what happened. Or, okay, probably not really  _ worried _ so much as  _ annoyed _ .” The door to Heather’s room was ajar, and there was clearly nobody inside. A quick scan didn’t show her phone sitting anywhere obvious, either. “I mean this isn’t the first time I’ve pulled a dumb stunt like that and embarrassed her in front of everyone.”

“So, first off, that’s not what happened, like, at all.” Paula was following on Rebecca’s heels as she headed to the living room and then for the kitchen. “Second, I already talked to her. Everything’s fine.”

Rebecca snorted. Yeah, that’d be the day. But whatever, she could deal with her mom later. Right now she just needed to find--”Heather!”

“Oh. Hey, dude.” Heather was sitting with her laptop at the kitchen table, drinking coffee. 

“Hey, Heather!” Rebecca slid into the chair across from hers. “So, Paula tells me you were being an awesome friend and keeping my phone safe or whatever which is amazing but here’s the thing--”

“I’m not giving it back.”

“That a girl, Heather,” Paula said as she took a chair between the two of them.

“It’s just--I need my phone. Okay? And while I appreciate this attempted show of support I am an adult capable of making my own decisions. So if you could, you know, just give it back to me.”

“No.”

So that was how it was going to be? Fine.

Rebecca stood, leaning over the table dramatically. “Well then I guess I’ll just have to find it myself.” 

“It’s not in the house, doofus.”

“Oh come on!”

“Valencia had to run some errands or whatever so I gave it to her. For safekeeping.”

God, why did her friends have to be so  _ competent _ at everything? 

“Well did she say where she was going?”

“Yeah.”

“...And?”

“And I’m not telling you, obviously. That’d totally defeat the point.”

“Paula? Paula please tell me. I know you know, Paula.”

But the woman’s face was as unreadable as a damn statue. “Not happening. So why don’t you go take a bath or something, calm down, and when Valencia gets back we can  _ discuss _ possibly giving your phone back?”

“I hate all three of you,” Rebecca grumbled. But a bath  _ did _ sound nice, and if she looked clean and refreshed then maybe Valencia would be convinced that she wasn’t going to do anything stupid. 

Not that texting her dad was actually a stupid idea. They just didn’t realize how smart it was because they didn’t know him like she did. 

She let herself be shepherded to the bathroom by Paula, who disappeared and then reappeared moments later with a fresh change of clothes and a bath bomb. “Go pamper yourself, Cookie.”

As usual it turned out Paula’s advice wasn’t terrible. Sitting in a warm tub was incredibly relaxing, and the bath bomb smelled like flowers. Rebecca hadn’t been aware of just how much she needed to relax until she felt all her muscles slowly begin to unkink. 

The serenity didn’t quite reach her brain, however, which spent most of the bath trying to decide exactly what to say to her father when she got her phone back.

_ Hey Dad, sorry for freaking out and saying I never want to see you again! I totally love you and want you around! _

_ Daddy, hi! So I got a little stressed yesterday and you know me and stress! Totes makes me crazy lol!! Anyway just wanted to make sure you know I didn’t actually mean any of that nonsense! _

_ Dad, it’s me, your insane failure of a daughter who always disappoints you and drives you away? Well guess what, I did it again! I’m just so wacky and I suck at everything! Sorry you have to put up with me! _

So this was going to be harder than she’d first thought. But whatever. He was her dad, he’d understand no matter how she phrased it. The important thing was that she reach out, apologize, and let him know that he’d done nothing wrong and it was 100% her fault.

Simple.

She stayed in the bath until the water was cold and her fingers were starting to go all pruny, and then took her time drying off and getting dressed. She spent a bit of extra time on her hair, because good hair was the key to convincing everyone you were calm and clear-headed and had everything together. Years of working in a high-powered law firm had taught the importance of hair maintenance, even if her current look was less “business shark” and more “cool person with friends.”

And she was going to totally own the “cool person” vibe, to the point where everyone forgot she had even wanted her phone in the first place. She’d just chill on the couch with a magazine or whatever, like she wasn’t just getting over one of the worst days in her entire life, and Valencia would be like “Hey, you’re clearly mentally stable and not freaking out at all! Here’s your phone back!” 

Hell, maybe she’d just get out her laptop and work on legal briefs or something. She probably had a lot of work to catch up on from the past two weeks. And if she happened to see her dad online then well that would just be a coincidence.

She made a point of walking very leisurely out of the bathroom and over to the kitchen. “So, I think I’m just gonna grab my laptop and catch up on some work stuff. You know, just take a nice, quiet day to sit and do legal stuff.”

Paula and Heather shared a glance.

“Cookie, are you sure that’s what you want to do? Work stuff?”

Rebecca gave what she hoped was a casual shrug. “After that nice relaxing bath--that bomb was amazing by the way--I just figured I should put my mental energy toward something useful.”

“Okay, that’s like, a wild attitude change,” Heather said. “Is this some kind of trick?”

“It’s not a trick. I’m just taking your advice to heart and not thinking about...certain things...until I’m in a better frame of mind to deal with them. So Valencia has my phone. Whatever. I don’t need it right now.”

The universe  _ immediately _ called her bluff by having the front door open. Rebecca raced for it, narrowly stopping in time to avoid colliding with Valencia.

“Valencia! Hey! Hi! You’re here! You’re back! Hi!”

“...Hey, Becks. You’re looking...oddly chipper.”

“Yeah, so, Heather says you took my phone and I  _ kinda _ need it back so….?”

Instead of answering Valencia looked up over Rebecca’s shoulder. A glance in the same direction showed that Heather and Paula were both standing in the living room behind her.

“She is not ready to have it back,” Paula said.

“She wants to text her stupid dad or whatever.”

“What? No!” Rebecca scoffed. “Look, Valencia, I just--I have some calendar notifications I need to take a look at. That’s all.”

Valencia didn’t look convinced. Actually she looked...sad? Why did Valencia look sad?

“I need to show you something. Can you…?” she gestured for Rebecca to move aside so she could actually enter the house proper. Valencia took a seat on the couch and waved Rebecca over to sit next to her. 

“What?” Rebecca asked. “What is it?”

Valencia pulled out Rebecca’s phone, jerking it away when Rebecca tried to snatch at it. “So, I tried to call your dad because I was angry and I thought I’d give him a piece of my mind.”

“Oh god, Valencia, you didn’t. What did you say to him? Valencia  _ what did you do? _ ”

“Just listen.”

Valencia hit the call button on her dad’s contact, and then put it on speaker. There was a single ring, and then it went to voicemail. Valencia hung up. 

“Oh, dude…” Heather said. All three of them were looking at Rebecca like something tragic had just happened.

“I don’t get it. So, what, he forgot to turn off airplane mode? Or...something?”

“Cookie…”

“What? ‘Cookie’ what? Why do you all look like someone just murdered a puppy?” 

There was a frustrating pause while they all seemed to silently argue over who should be the one to tell her whatever the hell this was about. Heather was the one to finally step up.

“Yeah, so, he blocked your number.”

What.

No.

He wouldn’t. No.  _ No _ . That was stupid. They were all being stupid.

“Just because it went to voicemail--”

“After one ring,” Valencia cut in. “I tried like two dozen times, and it always goes to voicemail after exactly one ring.”

What the fuck.  _ What the fuck. _

“Well no wonder he’d block the number if you called dozens of times,  _ god! _ ” Rebecca stomped her foot--when had she stood up?--and glared down at Valencia. “Why the fuck would you  _ do _ something like that?! He thought  _ I _ was being crazy obsessive and bothering him and don’t you get that that’s exactly why he left in the first place?! Because I never gave him any goddamned space?!”

“I’m telling you, the number was already blocked the first time I called--”

“You shouldn’t have called to begin with! Why couldn’t you all just let me deal with this? I was going to fix it! I was going to fix everything!”

Paula put a hand on her shoulder and it took every ounce of control Rebecca had to not slap it away. The house suddenly felt like a cage and she just needed to  _ get out _ . Everyone was too close together and she couldn’t  _ breathe _ properly.

“I have to get out of here. Don’t follow me. You’ve all done enough.”

She ran out the door and headed for...for somewhere. Anywhere.

She was halfway around the block before she realized she was wearing slippers.

That was just perfect though, wasn’t it? After all, it wasn’t like her being crazy was any kind of secret at this point. Walking around in slippers was exactly the sort of thing people probably expected from Rebecca The Nutjob.

Rebecca Nora Bunch: the unloveable psycho who pooped in a shoe on youtube and almost ran off a cliff in a wedding dress and whose own father might never speak to her again because she couldn’t act normal for five goddamn minutes.

He would never believe that she wasn’t the one calling him nonstop this morning. He’d always  _ hated _ how clingy Rebecca could get and it made things hard because no matter how she tried Rebecca could never really  _ stop _ being so attached. She couldn’t help it; she just loved him too much. But this time she  _ wasn’t _ the obsessive one and it didn’t even matter. Even if she did get in touch with him to tell him the truth, “it wasn’t me it was my friend” sounded like a bad lie. 

God, why hadn’t she just defended her father when Paula had insulted him? Then he would have seen that she loved him, and he wouldn’t have wanted to leave. And Rebecca wouldn’t have told him to get out of her life like a  _ fucking idiot _ . Why had she been so  _ stupid _ ?

This wasn’t Valencia’s fault. It was  _ Rebecca’s _ fault for being such a dumb, emotional, unthinking, stupid, crazy--

“Rebecca?”

She jumped. “Dr. Akopian?” Rebecca took note of her surroundings for the first time since she’d left the house. Without intending to she’d walked herself right to the psychiatrist’s office.

Well that was some Freudian shit.

Dr. Akopian was halfway down the front steps, her purse over her shoulder and keys in hand. “We don’t have a session today, do we? Candace is on vacation so scheduling is a  _ mess _ right now.”

“No. No I was just out for a walk. In...my slippers. Because I’m quirky like that.”

The doctor studied her for a moment. Rebecca tried unsuccessfully to avoid shifting nervously under the woman’s gaze.

“Aren’t you supposed to be getting married this weekend?”

Rebecca winced. “Yeah, so that--that didn’t really happen like I planned? Or, at all, really? Because my fiance decided to go become a priest and my daddy never wants to see me again and my whole life has been ruined forever and I just wanna crawl into a hole and never come back out. And now I think I’m gonna go buy six whole boxes of donuts eat every single feeling I’ve ever had.”

Before she could even turn around Dr. Akopian was telling her to stop. “Rebecca, I don’t have any more clients today, and you are  _ clearly _ in a bad place right now. Why don’t you come inside and we can talk?”

All of the angry energy that had driven Rebecca to run out in the first place had dissipated, leaving her feeling emotionally and physically drained. The thought of continuing walking was suddenly  _ exhausting _ . And well, she  _ had _ come all this way, intentionally or not. Maybe it wasn’t such a terrible idea?

She nodded.

 

* * *

 

 

She was swarmed the instant she set foot back inside the house. A chorus of apologies and questions about where she’d been and was she okay all happened at once, too much information for Rebecca to process. She waved her hands to signal that they all needed to calm down.

“I’m fine,” she started once they were all quiet. “I went to see Dr. Akopian.”

“Did that...help?” Paula asked in a tone that was less than hopeful.

“Well it was mostly her usual dumb crap. You know, ‘blah blah underlying issues, unhealthy patterns of behavior, yadda yadda.’ But she did make me realize that I need to accept the reality of what happened with my father. And that us breaking ties was a long time coming. You didn’t do this, Valencia. I can’t blame you for what that piece of human garbage does.”

Rebecca held out her hand. “And now I need you to give me my phone, because there’s something I have to do.”

This time the phone was handed over without hesitation. Everyone watched as Rebecca navigated through her contacts to find her father.

And deleted it.

The panic that had been bubbling under the surface all day began to fall away bit by bit. The feeling that replaced it wasn’t really  _ happy _ , but..calmer. Accepting.

They were out of each other’s lives, and there was no point fighting that fact.

“Now see,  _ that _ is what you should have done ages ago,” Paula said, beaming.

“I still have his skype and email and a few other things,” Rebecca pointed out. “But I’m going to delete them too. I am officially cutting ties with that piece of shit.”

“This is a major step for you,” Heather said. “I am incredibly excited.”

“We should celebrate,” Valencia suggested. “Ooh, I know! We’ll pour some wine, you can finish deleting all those other things you said, and then we will party!”

“And start planning that revenge against Josh,” Paula added.

For the first time in what seemed like ages, Rebecca smiled.

“Well let’s get started.”


End file.
